poetman
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I saw three war era movies recently: The English Patient, Letters from Iwo Jima, and The Good German.
The English Patient, starring Ralph Fines, is wonderful. It wasn't entirely what I expected, but not at all disappointing. It is difficult to summarize the film without giving it away, but from what you may read on the back of the movie case, know that it is a good one! The period look is authentic, and there is enough character development to feel connected to a given character. It is not a noir film, nor does it attempt to be. The plot is strong, although I could have done with a bit more action/suspense--by action I do not mean "shoot em up," but rather excitement. The characters are believable and the plot is strong. 4 of 5 stars.
Letters from Iwo Jima was okay. I appreciate a few philosophical aspects of the film, but it is not an action movie, at all! It the Japanese perspective of the battle for Iwo Jima--I believe the last Pacific island before Japan. Again, the film is not an action movie. There might be a scene or two with some fighting, but it's short and contributes nothing more to what's already been done. The film attempts to compel its viewers to sympathize with the Japanese soldiers. It accomplishes this in part by returning to footage of a soldier's home , or through flashbacks of the soldier with his family. I might be going against the grain here--well, I probably am--but, I was not that impressed with the film. I feel like the message is rather banal: "here's a film from the Japanese perspective, so Americans can be more tolerant." People shouuld sympathize with human life, not cultural practice. Thus, a dead Japanese should be as memorable as a dead American. Moreover, the film doesn't make too many steps to reinforce this ideology. It is half drama, half action. There really isn't any action, and one doesn't feel that connected to the characters to or have a high level of suspense to warrant drama. One thing the film does quite well is depict the futility of war! Soldiers shoot to kill one another, and upon harming eachother, they take in an enemy and nurse them back to health! The simplicity of the stupidity is mind blowing. I felt like yelling back, why don't you not shoot them in the first place, this way you won't have to nurse them back to health. In a matter of seconds, a Japanese fighter and an American fighter go from shooting at one another to sharing stories. This feature is important to the film. It clearly signifies the futility of war. A decent film with a good message. A conservative 3 of 5.
Lastly, I saw The Good German last night. Every bad review you might have read or heard about this movie was right! It was so awful, I wanted to laugh. The film is so poor, one thinks that, perhaps, the director thought it would be successful only because it was done in black and white. The film is about an American war journalist who flys to post-war Berlin to cover the peace conferences and rebuilding proccess. There is no plot, no memorable characters, no character development. I lost so much respect for George Clooney! It seems like Clooney loves his Oceans 11 character, and in watching The Good German, it felt like he was trying to play that character again, attempting to put him in every film. The dialogue is awful. The cover mimics Casablanca--and the plot, to a slight extent follows suit: a married couple trying to flee and the woman's ex-lover not wanting her to go, sort of? Everything that one could imagine about a film was awful in this movie. The film was successful in two areas: the look of post-war Germany and Cate Blanchet's accent. What was so comical about this film is the fact that Casablanca was not just a decent film, but many argue it was the best ever. What the heck were Souderburgh and Clooney thinking? Give the 5 dollars to a war vet and have him tell you a story. It would much more memorable.
1 of 5 (because I think you always have to give a number).
The English Patient, starring Ralph Fines, is wonderful. It wasn't entirely what I expected, but not at all disappointing. It is difficult to summarize the film without giving it away, but from what you may read on the back of the movie case, know that it is a good one! The period look is authentic, and there is enough character development to feel connected to a given character. It is not a noir film, nor does it attempt to be. The plot is strong, although I could have done with a bit more action/suspense--by action I do not mean "shoot em up," but rather excitement. The characters are believable and the plot is strong. 4 of 5 stars.
Letters from Iwo Jima was okay. I appreciate a few philosophical aspects of the film, but it is not an action movie, at all! It the Japanese perspective of the battle for Iwo Jima--I believe the last Pacific island before Japan. Again, the film is not an action movie. There might be a scene or two with some fighting, but it's short and contributes nothing more to what's already been done. The film attempts to compel its viewers to sympathize with the Japanese soldiers. It accomplishes this in part by returning to footage of a soldier's home , or through flashbacks of the soldier with his family. I might be going against the grain here--well, I probably am--but, I was not that impressed with the film. I feel like the message is rather banal: "here's a film from the Japanese perspective, so Americans can be more tolerant." People shouuld sympathize with human life, not cultural practice. Thus, a dead Japanese should be as memorable as a dead American. Moreover, the film doesn't make too many steps to reinforce this ideology. It is half drama, half action. There really isn't any action, and one doesn't feel that connected to the characters to or have a high level of suspense to warrant drama. One thing the film does quite well is depict the futility of war! Soldiers shoot to kill one another, and upon harming eachother, they take in an enemy and nurse them back to health! The simplicity of the stupidity is mind blowing. I felt like yelling back, why don't you not shoot them in the first place, this way you won't have to nurse them back to health. In a matter of seconds, a Japanese fighter and an American fighter go from shooting at one another to sharing stories. This feature is important to the film. It clearly signifies the futility of war. A decent film with a good message. A conservative 3 of 5.
Lastly, I saw The Good German last night. Every bad review you might have read or heard about this movie was right! It was so awful, I wanted to laugh. The film is so poor, one thinks that, perhaps, the director thought it would be successful only because it was done in black and white. The film is about an American war journalist who flys to post-war Berlin to cover the peace conferences and rebuilding proccess. There is no plot, no memorable characters, no character development. I lost so much respect for George Clooney! It seems like Clooney loves his Oceans 11 character, and in watching The Good German, it felt like he was trying to play that character again, attempting to put him in every film. The dialogue is awful. The cover mimics Casablanca--and the plot, to a slight extent follows suit: a married couple trying to flee and the woman's ex-lover not wanting her to go, sort of? Everything that one could imagine about a film was awful in this movie. The film was successful in two areas: the look of post-war Germany and Cate Blanchet's accent. What was so comical about this film is the fact that Casablanca was not just a decent film, but many argue it was the best ever. What the heck were Souderburgh and Clooney thinking? Give the 5 dollars to a war vet and have him tell you a story. It would much more memorable.
1 of 5 (because I think you always have to give a number).
